Kavanaugh Update: Consider Hysteria of Critics

Gun prohibitionists with Democrat U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut perhaps in their lead have ramped up their opposition to the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, worrying that he will “give the Supreme Court a majority to overturn assault weapons bans imposed by several states,” according to the Connecticut Mirror.

“Given his history as being an activist Second Amendment extremist,” Murphy said in a report by WSHU public radio, “I think he is going to try to push the court to take another look at how it interprets the Second Amendment.”

The perennially anti-gun Murphy also predicted that if Kavanaugh is confirmed, might move to overturn gun laws across the country. That’s as good as an endorsement for Kavanaugh’s confirmation where Second Amendment advocates are concerned. They judge people not only by their own words and deeds, but also by the fanaticism of their opponents.

“This is someone who will use the courts to invalidate some of the most popular gun laws in the nation,” Murphy said, according to the Mirror. Many gun rights activists would wonder what’s wrong with that?

Judge Brett Kavanaugh. (C-SPAN screen snip)

But the newspaper noted in a Thursday report, “There is little in the way of comments, legal writings or judicial actions that flesh out Kavanaugh’s stance on the Second Amendment. But the judge has been lambasted by gun control groups for his dissenting opinion in a case that concerned gun rights in the nation’s capital.”

However, out in the Big Sky Country of Montana, Second Amendment activist Gary Marbut, writing in the Missoulian newspaper, asserted, “the expected opposition to Kavanaugh by gun control extremists is not as comforting as it could be.”

“From an East Coast or D.C. perspective Kavanaugh may look like a Second Amendment supporter,” says Marbut, who heads the Montana Shooting Sports Association, “but from our more liberty-oriented Montana perspective he is a mixed bag.

“Kavanaugh does believe that Second Amendment infringements should be subject to a strict scrutiny level of judicial review,” Marbut continued in his July 12 piece, “a relatively high barrier. He thinks that semi-auto rifles deserve the same protection as the Supreme Court afforded semi-auto pistols in its Heller decision. But, he also thinks that much of the gun control currently applied across the U.S. may be tolerable notwithstanding the Second Amendment.

“Kavanaugh’s written history with the Second Amendment is in the context of D.C. As a longtime D.C. denizen, Kavanaugh thought that the effective D.C. gun ban laws were inconsistent with the Second Amendment,” Marbut contended, “That’s good, but that’s not so impressive from our Montana perspective.”

Perhaps not, but taken in perspective, many Second Amendment advocates note that Kavanaugh is a far better candidate than anyone who might have been nominated by Hillary Rodham Clinton.
That seems to be something about which some gun rights activists need constant reminding. It is the fact that elections matter, and voting is the key.

“We’re encouraged by this nomination because by adding Judge Kavanaugh, we might see the high court become more willing to accept and rule on important Second Amendment issues, such as right-to-carry…The right to keep and bear arms is a cornerstone of the Bill of Rights that has set this nation apart as a beacon of freedom and liberty. It is time for the court to examine the constitutionality of various state laws that restrict the right to carry, for example, and make arbitrary decisions about who can exercise that right.”—Alan Gottlieb, Second Amendment Foundation, July 9, 2018

In Colorado, for example, the Washington Post is reporting on the race in the state’s 6th Congressional District, where Republican incumbent Mike Coffman is being challenged by Democrat Jason Crow, who has made gun control a central theme of his campaign. Too many gun owners might think that just because Coffman got reelected last time by a good margin, they can sit on their ballots while Democrats vote.

That’s the same malady affecting too many gun owners in districts across the map. They don’t feel threatened, so they become complacent. If they’re in a heavily Democrat district, they fall back on the excuse that their vote doesn’t count, which is only true when they don’t use it.

With midterm elections only three months away, the Second Amendment community needs to power up rather than play dead if they expect to keep their rights intact.

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About Dave Workman

Dave Workman is an award-winning career journalist with an expertise in firearms and the outdoors. He is the author of several books dealing with firearms politics. He has a degree in editorial journalism from the University of Washington and is a lifelong Washington resident.